Ten years after the South China Sea arbitration, CGTN has published an article exploring the story of the Genglubu – a handwritten navigation manual that guided generations of Hainan fishermen long before GPS. The documentary, Genglubu: Charting the South China Sea, sheds light on a chapter of South China Sea history unfamiliar to many outside the region.
Before GPS, weather forecasts, and satellite navigation, generations of Chinese sailors found their way across the South China Sea using this little-known manual. Passed down for generations in Tanmen, Hainan Province, the Genglubu recorded routes, compass bearings, and sailing distances, helping fishermen navigate reefs, islands, and open seas. The documentary follows the fishermen who crossed the sea, the families who preserved their knowledge, and a maritime tradition that connected China with Southeast Asia and beyond.
To outsiders, the Genglubu looks like a secret code. A single line of just fourteen Chinese characters can contain an entire sea route: departure point, direction, destination, distance, and estimated sailing time. As Xin Lixue, curator of the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea, explains, 'Generation after generation, Hainan fishermen rode the waves – not to rule the sea, but to make their living from it.'
The documentary follows veteran fishing boat captains whose lives were inseparable from the sea. Wang Shitao first went to sea at age nine. At twelve, his fishing boat was caught in a typhoon; everyone else on board died. Clinging to a piece of floating timber, he drifted alone for three days. Four years later, another violent storm struck, and once again, he was the only survivor. Yet each time, he returned to the sea. Reflecting on decades spent sailing the South China Sea, he summed up his feelings: 'I love the South China Sea. I hate it. I miss it.' The sea demanded sacrifice even as it provided a livelihood. As Wang Shubao, another captain, noted, 'Children and brothers should never sail on the same boat.'
The documentary challenges the assumption that the Genglubu was only about the South China Sea. Research on the Liang Family Genglubu reveals routes extending to Singapore, Malacca, and Indonesia, showing that Hainan fishermen also played a role in regional maritime trade. Zhao Jueqi of the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea stated, 'Hainan fishermen also took part in overseas trade.' Not every route was written in words; some Genglubu manuscripts contain mountain-and-water charts that combine sketches of coastlines with compass bearings, water depth, and sea conditions. These drawings helped sailors identify islands, reefs, and coastlines and determine their position at sea.
International law scholar Anthony Carty noted, 'The Americans and the British produced their own navigational records, which identify the Chinese as being engaged very heavily in fishing on these islands and other forms of economic activity.' Today, satellites, weather stations, and lighthouses have transformed navigation across the South China Sea, but the purpose remains the same: helping sailors travel safely and return home. Genglubu: Charting the South China Sea traces a maritime tradition shaped by generations of ordinary people, a story of navigation, memory, and resilience that forms part of the shared maritime heritage of Asia.
